Mayor Popove dismayed over homeless out-of-towners dropped off in Chilliwack

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As far as the extent of the issue goes, Popove said he had heard anecdotally that unhoused people from out of town were being dropped off in Chilliwack, but this was the first time he’s become aware of video proof.

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A video sent to Fraser Valley Today from Jamie Leggatt, director of communications for the city of Chilliwack, originated from a Chilliwack resident who wishes to remain anonymous. Leggatt said the video was sent to Mayor Popove on Saturday from a community member that wishes to remain anonymous, but this person did give the mayor permission to share the video with the media.

Image: Supplied by the City of Chilliwack from an anonymous Chilliwack resident, permission granted by this anonymous Chilliwack resident / Video appears to show a Union Gospel Mission-branded van from Vancouver dropping off one, possibly two individuals, Saturday morning (Apr. 22) in a downtown Chilliwack-area parking lot. UGM thought the individuals had housing here in Chilliwack, but that apparently was not the case, according to Mayor Ken Popove. 

The video clip of one minute, nine seconds, shows footage of a female standing behind a fence, not far from what appears to be a Union Gospel Mission van parked in a Chilliwack parking lot. The female speaking in the video expresses opposition to UGM dropping off individuals who don’t appear to have accommodations. The male driver of the UGM van is unaware of the exact address of the individuals’ supposed housing.

“Because we’re tired of everybody bringing everybody out here to Chilliwack and dropping them off,” the unknown female says with displeasure in her voice towards the male driver from UGM. “So you’re bringing them from where?”

The male UGM driver responds, “They’ve got housing.”

The female responds, “They’ve got housing? So why are you not dropping them off at their housing?”

After an inaudible response from the male, the female states emphatically, “There’s no housing at Ruth and Naomi’s. So, what else is around the corner because I’m a landlord here of several properties, and we always like to keep an eye on things.”

After a bit of back-and-forth between the two, the male driver from UGM assures the female recording that the individuals have a place to go.

The female continues to question the male driver. “To their house. They’ve got a house? Ahh huh. Where might that be?”

The male driver responds, “I don’t have the address. It’s around the corner.”

The female recording the video continues pressing the driver. “Around the corner? Ahh huh. OK, I’ll just let the mayor know what you guys are doing.”

The male UGM driver responds to the female, “You do that.”

The female responds, “Yeah, I will!”

“Thank you,” the male UGM driver says to the female recording. He then tells the individuals being dropped off “OK, take care of yourselves.” Some additional conversation occurs between a driver and the person being dropped off.

The video ends seconds later with the UGM van logo in the background.

“I don’t want people to think that I don’t have empathy,” said Popove, who was first elected to Chilliwack City Council in 2011. “I do. I’ve had the social file since 2016-17 when things started to explode around here. We as a city have done a lot of work in concert with B.C. Housing and Fraser Health to get supportive housing units. We certainly have stepped up to the plate.”

Popove says service providers in Chilliwack are already overburdened and cannot handle much more.

“It’s just not right,” said Popove. “It just has to stop. Our service providers in Chilliwack are overburdened, and what we’re dealing with is just not fair to the community.”

Popove says it is his understanding that the individuals from Vancouver spent a couple nights at Ruth and Naomi’s and have since been returned to Vancouver.

“I’ve talked to the president of UGM, and he’s rectified the problem,” Popove said. “At the end of the day, this still happened. These guys are gonna fail. It’s just adding more strain to the system. I want to look after my people in Chilliwack.”